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Senegal is pursuing financial sustainability for its immunization services primarily through budget advocacy. Sabin’s Sustainable Immunization Financing (SIF) Program worked with officials in Senegal from 2008 to 2018.

Immunization Program Structure

Senegal’s Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) is located in the Medical Prevention Department of the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHP).

Senegal’s Progress

Government Spending on Immunization

Over the period 2006-2014, Senegal’s Gross National Income rose from US$800 to $1,050 per capita, a 31 percent increase. According to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Reporting Form (JRF), the Senegalese government spent $4 on routine immunization per surviving infant in 2006. Senegal spent the same amount in 2014. The government share of total routine immunization expenditures dropped from 58 percent to 8 percent over the period. Since 2010, Senegal has reported inconsistently on JRF financial indicators. The data suggest that Senegal has not progressed towards country ownership of its immunization program. Among SIF countries, Senegal ranked 19th in terms of routine immunization spending per surviving infant in 2016.

Vaccination Financing Mechanism

An MoH steering committee began developing a private immunization trust fund in April 2011

Legislation for Sustainability

Chapter I, Article 7 of the Senegalese Constitution (2001) guarantees citizens the right to health, and. Article 17 guarantees that the state will provide health services to families.

In November 2012, a drafting committee began drafting a national immunization bill. The bill was later amended to incorporate suggestions from a Sabin-sponsored peer exchange workshop.

In October 2015, the immunization law project was inserted as an activity in the country’s comprehensive multi-year plan (cMYP).

In January 2016, The Ministries of Health and Finance began reviewing the draft bill.

In February 2016, MPs and MOH counterparts agree to insert the draft immunization law into a draft universal health care law.

Budget Advocacy

In January 2015, a Parliamentary Coalition for Immunization was established.

In July 2015, the EPI team and Parliamentary Coalition for Immunization convinced the Finance Minister to increase the 2016 immunization budget by 83 percent.

In February 2016, a Senegalese MP attended and signed a Parliamentary Statement in Support of the Ministerial Conference on Immunization in Africa.